Planooraph co



J. A. ALVEY.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING MACARONI, SPAGHETH, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES.

APPLICATION HLED mac. n. 1911.

1 ,3 1 4,300 Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

woaQ ae imw hm;

J. A. ALVEY.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING MACARONI. SPAGHETTI, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1|. I91].

'1 ,3 1 4,300. Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- J. A. ALVEY.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING MACARONI, SPAGHETTI, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. II. 19!].

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET,3-

ma COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPI! J. A. ALVEY.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING MACARONI. SPAGHETTI, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED 05c. ll. 19:].

1 3 1 4, 300 Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- I l r UNITED STA ES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. ALVEY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIG-NOR TO ALVEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ST; LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

Application filed December 11, 1917. Serial No. 206,579.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. ALVEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful 1mprovement in Machines for Cutting Macaroni, Spaghetti, and Similar Articles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a machine for cutting macaroni, spaghetti, noodles, and similar articles, and it has for its principal objects to provide a machine that can be rapidly and safely fed and which will automatically cut the article into definite lengths and deliver it in convenient and safe position for packing. The invention consists in the parts and in the combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specification and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying my inventiony Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said machine with the door open;

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of said machine;

Fig. 4: is a horizontal section of the main portion of the machine; I

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of one pair of the saw shaft couplings; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the worm and worm gear housing on the line 6-6 in Fig. 4.

The machine comprises a horizontal main shaft 1 journaled in bearings provided therefor in the framework 2, which preferably is mounted on rollers and operatively connected to a suitable source of power to be actuated thereby. Mounted on this horizontal main shaft is a series of circular saws 3, which are spaced apart and positioned by means of tubular sleeves 4 mounted on the main shaft. These sleeves are removable and replaceable with sleeves of different lengths, and as they serve to space and position the saws, the distance between saws and consequently the length of the article cut may be varied by replacing one set of sleeves with another of different lengths. Parallel with the main shaft is a counter-shaft 5 which has mounted thereon, so as to be movable therewith, a number of spiders 6 arranged in groups, preferably of two or three,

opposite the respective spaces between saws. The arms of these spiders are of such shape that when the rising arm is horizontal, its upper side has an upwardly extending portion 7 preferably curved at its outer end. The arms of the several spiders are arranged in alinemcnt and together serve to constitute a continuous cradle which extends opposite the whole gang of circular saws and overlaps them in the course of its movement.

The main shaft 1, which carries the saws, and the countershaft 5, which carries the spiders 6 constituting the cradle, are driven from. a common source; but the main shaft revolves at a high speed while the countershaft revolves quite slowly. The arrangement by which this wide ratio of revolutions is produced is as follows: The power is derived from an electric motor 8 journaled on the movable frame of the machine and provided with a pulley 9 and belt 10 which transmit the power to a pulley 11 on the main saw-carrying shaft 1 of the machine, which shaft is thus driven at high speed. This main shaft is provided with a worm 12, which meshes with a worm gear 13 mounted on a shaft 14 which is provided with a bevel pinion 15. This bevel. pinion meshes with a bevel gear 16 on a shaft 17, which is parallel with the main shaft 1 and is provided with a spur pinion 18 which meshes with a large spur gear 19 on the counter-shaft 5 that car ries the spiders. Thus, the counter shaft revolves continuously but at a much lower speed than the main shaft. The foregoing arrangement is particularly safe not only by reason of the feeding cradles moving so slowly but also because those cradles are so far from the saws during the feeding operation; for, when they are in position to receive the bundles of macaroni, they are away from the saws nearly the full diameter of the spider. The bundles of macaroni carried by the cradle are disposed parallel with the shaft.

Pivotally and removably mounted above the saws is a bar or frame 20 from which depend a number of curved guides 21, preferably in the form of flexible metal strips, that are located in the space between the main shaft and the counter-shaft and out of contact with both the saws and the spider arms. The lower ends of these guides extend close to a horizontal belt 22 located close under the saws. This belt is mounted on cooperate with the downwardly moving cradles so as to maintain the bundles of macaroni 1n proper position for presentation to the saws; and said guides also serve to dellver the'cut lengths of macaronl in parallel groups well assorted and distributed along the belt. Thus, the macaroni is cut into desired lengths and delivered in a convenient form for the packer.

As a matter of convenience, it is desirable to make the main shaft 1 in separable sections and provide for the removal ofthe section which carries the saws for the purpose of replacing the positioning and adj ust ing sleeves thereon. 'For this purpose, this section of the shaft is provided with coupling members 26 adapted to be secured to counterpart coupling members on other sections of the shaft. The spider shaft is likewise equipped.

It is desirable to incase all of the operating mechanism for the sake of safety. For

thls purpose, a casing is formed about the driving mechanism and access to said mechanism is had by means of doors 27 and 28. Likewise, the saws are incased and access may be had to them by means of a silding door 29 mounted in theframework at the rear of the saw housing.

Obviously, the construction hereinbefore described admits of variation without departing from my invention. For instance, other forms of cutters, such as knives, may be substituted for the circular saws decribed.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for cutting macaroni and the like comprising a shaft provided with circular cutters, a counter-shaft provided with spiders whose arms have their end portions curved in the direction of movement, said spiders being positioned to overlap the margins of saidcutters and constitute a feeding cradle therefor, yielding guides located between said shafts in position to co- Oopies of this patent may be obtained for operate with said, cradle, and means for simultaneously actuating said shaft at a high speed and said cradle at a low speed. v

- 2. A machine for cutting macaroni and the like comprising a shaft provided with circular cutters, 'a counter-shaft provided speed, saidguides comprising a member pivotally mounted above the cutters and having curved strips in position to overlap both the cutters and the cradle and extending close to the periphery of the cutters. I

3. A machine for cutting macaroni. and the like comprising a shaft having a gang of circular cutters, a counter-shaft having a gang of spiders whose arms have their end portions curved inthe direction of movement, and together constituting a feeding cradle adapted to overlap the peripheries of said cutters, means for simultaneously driving said cutters at high speed and said cradle at low speed, a. conveyer beneath said outters, and curved guides located between said shaft and counter-shaft and arranged with their concave faces toward the counter-shaft and extending adjacent to said conveyer whereby said guides are arranged to cooperate with said feeding cradle and direct the cut material on to said conveyer.

4. A portable machine for cutting macaroni and the like comprising a gang of circular cutters and a feeding cradle adapted to receive bundles of the article to be cut and present such bundles to said cutters, actuating mechanism, casings inclosing said mechanism, a belt conveyer beneath said outters, and curved spring arms mounted above said cutters and cradle with their concave faces toward the cradle and extending close to said conveyer whereby said arms cooperate with said feeding cradle and direct the cut material of said conveyer,said cradle being operatively connected to the same actuating mechanism that drives the cutters so as to be driven at a relatively low speed.

Signed at St, Louis, Missouri this 5th day of December, 1917. i

JOHN ALVEY.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. l i 

